Developer Diaries

X-Men Legends - Developer Diary #2

In terms of superhero games, we were certainly impressed with the strong story and hero customization found in Freedom Force even though we were well into development by that point. I think they really did a great job of making the superhero game cool again because they recognized that sometimes comic books are campy -- and that's okay, because that's what makes them fun. Freedom Force also did a great job of giving the player a huge roster of heroes and villains with a wide variety of powers to play with. Since X-Men has 15 playable characters and a large number of Marvel villains, the player feels a similar dynamic because there is SO much they can do with all of these lovely powers at their disposal. I also think that it's worth giving a nod to The Hulk because they captured the true meaning of "Hulk, smash!" and destructible objects and environments play a key role in X-Men Legends, as well. Finally, our very own Spider-Man movie games gave us inspiration on how to make interesting missions for players that truly involve using the super powers in cool, interesting ways.

Finally, we get to action-RPGs. It may seem strange, but one game that comes up during team meetings all the time is Diablo. I think that Diablo and Diablo II provided very strong models for exactly what an action-RPG is, and certainly we have built certain RPG systems around gameplay elements that originated with these fantastic games. More recently, the consoles have really defined the nature of action-RPGs, and it is inevitable that comparisons will be drawn between Legends and games like Champions of Norrath or Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. These are some very good games, but I am happy to say that X-Men Legends really takes this genre to the next level by introducing superheroes to the mix, and the idea of four-character real-time control instead of an individual hero.

New Beginnings

Each time I play X-Men Legends, I am really proud of what we have created. Describing the game to someone takes a huge amount of time and effort because there is so much in this one game that you keep thinking, "Oh yeah, and you can do THAT too, I almost forgot." When I demo the game now, it takes at least 10 to 15 minutes just to teach people the basics of the gameplay elements. It's super simple to pick up and play, but once you start digging into it you keep finding more and more exciting tidbits that you just don't expect in an action-RPG. I can use Nightcrawler's teleport to attack enemies, transport friends, go through a locked door, reach an unreachable ledge, or save a hostage in distress. I can use Iceman to freeze an enemy, attack them with ice spikes, slow them down, build a bridge, weld a hole in the wall, make ice weapons for my teammates, AND put out a fire. Oh, yeah, and he can create ice armor for himself and use his ultra-cool ice track to get around levels! Okay, enough talking, I gotta play this some more!